At Transportation Taskforce meeting we were updated on the forthcoming change of bus service provider.

The familiar friendly Bay Hoppers got the chop from the contract from the end of June when it was retendered by the Regional Council, Environment BOP some time ago. The new service was yet to be named. I suggested to the two presenters from EBOP that Bay Chopper would be a good option. They seemed taken by it! After this meeting EBOP announced they had bought the Bay Hopper name from Bayline. A sensible move.
The new operator, Go Bus from Hamilton, will have 34 buses, of which 24 will be new and 10 less than three years old. Frequency will be increased and some routes will be rationalised to cut out unnecessary circuits and speed up travel times. Patrons will be expected to walk up to 200-300 metres to and from bus stops. Fares are simplified to $1.50 and $2.50 a trip, with fares $3 from Papamoa.
City Council will assist by trying to keep bus lanes clear, shift bus stops where appropriate and other help. Ratepayers meet this cost, along with Government subsidy to Tauranga's transport system. Nothing comes cheap and this will be not an insignificant contribution.
Most buses will seat around 29 passengers. Fare money handling is a big issue for drivers with a timetable to keep, so I asked about onboard automatic ticket machines like overseas buses and was told they are too expensive. Okay, but you can't have it both ways, so I guess they'll have to reinvent the wheel and rediscover fire before they do it.

Unsurprising development
We had a quick Monitoring Committee meeting where elected members were updated by our Treasury on the City's finances. Unsurprisingly development contributions have tailed off as the new building rate drops off. This highlights the contribution that building and associated traders make to our city's economy. At the open forum at meeting's end a couple of councillors raised the issue of Southern Pipeline costs I noted in this column last week. They said they were concerned about costs and asked staff how we could be assured Council wasn't being ripped off by consultants. The short answer from my experience is you can't, until projects end.

Previous gleeful promotions
Take the multi-million dollar and contentious water microfiltration project back in the nineties. These same questions were raised then and gleefully promoted in the local media. Those of us in the firing line knew we had one shot at this and had to get it right first time. In the face of loud criticism, ‘expensive' consultants from the USA were hired. One of these was a world expert, advising the US Government on water supply technology worldwide. Was it expensive to pay top dollar to get the right information up front instead of listening to local ‘experts' who, in reality, were not acquainted with available technology? Of course it wasn't expensive - it was an investment. The project worked from day one, supplying the best processed water in the Southern Hemisphere at that time and came in $4 million or 20% under budget and was commissioned on time, and I was very pleased to be associated with it.

Satisfying project progress
Across in Hamilton they took the local option and faced ongoing issues for years later. So no, to do a large, complex and expensive project you have to face big upfront costs and hire and trust experts. If they don't get it right then there is legal recourse, their reputations and the non-likelihood of another project to keep them focused.
So from where I sit our options are limited and I'm satisfied with the projects progress to date. I'm watching it, as are other elected members. As a ratepayer wrote recently, we have to deal with our own waste properly and without a properly functioning wastewater system, we don't have a city. It's that important and simple!

Current breakdown
Here's the breakdown to May 29. Concept investigation and obtaining consents - $8,344,853, purchase pump station site $1,044,083, build pump station $1,483,387, Memorial Park pump $30,383, pipeline construction $450,011, Anchorage Grove siphon $281,612, project management $592,532, peer review and Southern Wastewater System option investigation $529,011.

Up-to-date transactions
It was a long, drawn out Full Council meeting this week. No doubt the highlight for the media was Wayne Moultrie's attempt to bring more transparency and openness to Rick Curach's motion to have elected members expenses on the website.
Most of our expenses relate to mileage, except for the Mayor, who has a car supplied. Wayne said he applauded Rick's motion but said it focused on trivial matters when there was the serious matter of an elected member who may not have paid their rates. People struggling in the community to pay rates were entitled to know that their representatives were setting the example and leading from the front.
Wayne asked Rick, who is the only one that can legally amend his own notice of motion, to accept an amendment requiring all elected members to declare that they had no outstanding financial matters with Council. Rick wouldn't do this, so Wayne will raise it separately. Wayne was careful to make no accusations nor identify any individual.
Murray Guy got very heated, saying people had their right to privacy – an interesting observation from someone actively promoting honesty, openness and transparency – and it was unfair to attack someone not present and therefore unable to defend themselves. For the record, all my financial transactions with Council are up to date. So it isn't me, and Greg Brownless said he was also up to date.
The Indoor Sport and Exhibition Centre got a majority tick to proceed once funding issues are resolved and there is a legally watertight access agreement in place with Speedway. I said we don't need to waste any more time on process – we had to go to tender ASAP while contractors were really competing for work, once the issues had been addressed. And if we weren't going ahead, what will the arrangements be once the Mount Action Centre lease had expired?
Feedback I get is that this project is the one project getting majority support from the community. The resolution to move forward was passed 9-1. Catherine Stewart was alone in opposing the project because she said the operating expenses were huge and the city couldn't stand the debt. Hayden Evans had left the meeting when this vote was taken.
Council is having yet another crack at cleaning up the late night shenanigans on The Strand. We'll have more talk fests but we're looking at closing outdoor drinking from 12am or 1am. The Strand Northern Reclamation carpark will be closed from 10.30pm to 6am Thursday, Friday and Saturday thereby removing a base for nefarious activities.
P.S. As The Weekend Sun went to press, Hayden Evans was publicly quoted saying he is the elected member with outstanding rates to be paid.